When using firearms, it is often advantageous for the user to be able to quickly and accurately point the firearm at the target. Many devices assisting in the aiming of a firearm are available, including the classic V-sight, peephole sight, 3-dot sight and similar iron-sight structures, as well as telescopic or optical sights. Standard pistol sights feature a notch in the rear sight and a blade on the front sight. The sights are aligned when the front blade is centered in the rear notch and the top of the blade is level with the top of the rear sight. However, for improved visibility, a 3-dot sight adds dots on opposed sides of the notch in the rear sight and a dot to the front sight's blade. The three dots are approximately aligned in a row when the sights are aligned.
However, when light conditions are poor, such as at night or in darkened rooms of buildings, a sighting device that relies solely on ambient light is at a disadvantage. Under such conditions, the target itself may be difficult to acquire visually and to follow if it is moving, and gunsights that are lit only by external light sources are less effective because of the need to see them and align them with the already poorly-perceived target at the time of firing the firearm.
Under poor lighting conditions, self-illuminated gunsights may be used. The dots may be elongated tritium (luminous) vials seen on end, or the dots may be fluorescent plastic rods seen on end that respond to low ambient light. However, the effectiveness of such sights still depends on the user's ability to align them accurately with a possibly poorly-seen and/or moving target.
An example of a conventional self-illuminated sighting device is Flubacher et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,216,351, which discloses day and night weapon sights. Flubacher et al. features dual spots on each sight location in contrast to the single dot in each sight location used in 3-dot sights. The dual spots are a result of a fluorescent light guide being positioned above a tritium vial at each sight location. This improves visibility in a wide range of lighting conditions. The light guides are aligned and brought to bear on the target during daylight hours because they are more clearly visible to the user. However, during low light and night light conditions, the tritium vials are more clearly visible, allowing them to be aligned and brought to bear on a target. Therefore, the sights can be employed for both day and night usage. However, the wide sidewalls of Flubacher et al.'s front sight prevent the user from viewing substantially all of the taper present in the sidewalls of the front sight through the notch in the rear sight. This makes the front sight very difficult to acquire through the notch in the rear sight.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a dual-mode high-visibility gunsight that has a desirably narrow front blade while encapsulating tritium vials and fiber-optic elements.